Investment in America has finally moved to the forefront of the conversation in Washington, D.C., with the potential of hundreds of pages of legislation and over a trillion dollars from Congress to support laying the groundwork for the next century. The boost in spending will boost consumer benefits and create jobs, but it will also mean that taxpayers will need to fund it.

Verizon plans a commercial 5G rollout in the second half of 2018 and AT&T plans for 5G in a dozen cities by late 2018. Sprint is aiming at wide-scale 5G deployment in late 2019, and T-Mobile expects to have 5G country-wide in 2020.

The next generation of wireless broadband services, a potentially gigabit speed service called 5G, promises not only to increase the speed of video and data downloads, but also to unlock new possibilities in agriculture, banking, transportation, medicine and countless other areas of life.

State governments have developed a despicable habit of ignoring what the voters and their representatives identify as the official purpose behind many grants and fee collections. In too many cases, state governments display the arrogance of skilled thieves, diverting funds from the intended destination. Instead the funds are used to plug self-inflicted budgetary holes. Published in the Daily Caller.

“Deployment of 5G wireless will produce over a half trillion in near term economic benefit to the GDP and much more long term. That is according to a new paper from the American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research, which also says government needs to better help that process along.”

Deployment of next-generation or “5G” networks in the United States is expected to generate $533 billion in U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) and $1.2 trillion in long-run consumer benefits according to a new analysis released today by the American Consumer Institute (ACI).

The data serves as the inaugural report for the new “Lost EconomyTM” series, an independent research program sponsored by ACI that identifies regulations and policies that impede private enterprise, delay investment and deter market entry, thereby impacting national and state economic output and jobs.

“This new analysis confirms that, under the right regulatory and policy frameworks, there will be a spur in next-generation network infrastructure investment, resulting in economic growth, job creation and increased consumer welfare,” said Steve Pociask, President and CEO of ACI.

The analysis, “The Economic and Consumer Benefits from 5G Broadband Service Investment,” confirms that explosions in U.S. wireless subscriber connections (400 million in 2016) and data traffic are driving increased consumer demands for faster and more robust wireless networks. Separate studies cited in the ACI analysis also confirm 5G technology could produce $1.8 trillion in savings over seven years, while self-driving cars and connected devices for health applications could produce annual economic benefits of $447 billion and $305 billion, respectively.

However, the ACI report observes multiple impediments that remain ahead of successfully upgrading the nation’s wireless infrastructure in all 50 states, 3,000 counties and 20,000 incorporated places, including recognition of timely approvals of applications and permits from state and local governments.

“Many states have already begun modernizing their rules to encourage 5G investment. Those states will likely be the first to experience the benefits talked about in this report. Those who are behind could see less investment and not get all the benefits, which is not in the public’s interest,” added Pociask.

Competing railroad lines have recovered from near-bankruptcy in the 1970s, and today they perform the heavy lifting in our transportation networks. Through an investment of $635 billion since 1980, the railroad freight system has served American consumers very well. Within 10 years of regulatory reform, rail prices fell by 44 percent and productivity soared.

About Us

The Lost Economy®is an independent research program sponsored by The American Consumer Institute, Center of Citizen Research (ACI). The program identifies regulations and public policies that impede private enterprise, delay investment and deter market entry, and it measures the adverse effects of these regulations and public policies on national and state economic output, employment earnings and jobs in the economy.